<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>It was not Death, for I stood up by politicalmamaduck</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22409176">It was not Death, for I stood up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck'>politicalmamaduck</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Depression, F/M, Family Reunions, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force Ghost Yoda (Star Wars), Force Ghost(s), Grimtaash, No Pregnancy, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, References to Depression, Rey Kenobi, Rey Needs A Hug, Safe to Read if You're Triggered by Pregnancy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Tumblr: reylofanfictionanthology, the world between worlds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:28:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,295</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22409176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Emperor Palpatine lied on Exegol; Rey is not his granddaughter. Rey sets off on a journey, led by Obi-Wan Kenobi, to bring Ben Solo back from the World Between Worlds.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>For one is both and both are one in love: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It was not Death, for I stood up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raveluv/gifts">Raveluv</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for CwenPhy for the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology gift fic exchange, For One Is Both and Both Are One in Love!<br/>Title taken from Emily Dickinson's "<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44085/it-was-not-death-for-i-stood-up-355">It was not Death, for I stood up</a>."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em> Rey, these are your first steps</em>.</p><p>The words echoed over and over again in her mind. </p><p>She had never forgotten them since the first time she heard them in the basement of Maz’s castle. </p><p>She had heard them again on Exegol, when all seemed lost, when her body and mind seemed broken. </p><p>It seemed to her that her journey was complete; the Emperor was defeated. </p><p>And so was she, until Ben saved her. He brought her back to life, sacrificing his own in the process. </p><p>It seemed to her those should have been her final steps. The same voice that told her about her first steps had said so. </p><p><em> These are your final steps, Rey. Rise, and take them</em>.</p><p>But instead, she had to take her first steps again anew each day. Each day, she had to force herself to get out of bed, to move, to keep going. </p><p>How could she live with the other half of her soul gone, sacrificed so that she could live?</p><p>How could she bear the weight of both her true and assumed family names without him by her side?</p><p>She had to live, though, for him, so that his sacrifice would not be in vain. </p><p>And so she re-started an old moisture farm on Tatooine and became Shmi Skywalker’s great-granddaughter-in-law. </p><p>She hoped that maybe, someday, she would hear the voices again. Learn who they were in life, learn from them. </p><p>But everything, or everyone, had been silent since Exegol. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><em> Bring back the balance, Rey, as I did</em>. </p><p>Anakin Skywalker truly was a legend on Tatooine. They remembered him as the hero he was, not as the monster he became. Rey heard old stories of an infamous podrace, of the Hero With No Fear, of a lost and wounded young man who went out into the desert and returned with his mother’s body. </p><p>No one mentioned Darth Vader. To the people who eked out a living on the edges of the desert and Tatooine’s wretched cities, it was as if the Empire had never truly existed, save for an inconvenience that drove up prices once Luke Skywalker got involved with the Rebellion. </p><p>These people loved Luke, too. And still mourned Beru and Owen Lars, whose farm she had taken for her own. There were even a few who still remembered Shmi, over fifty years later. </p><p>“I don’t suppose Luke told you about Beru’s blue milk cheese recipe, did he?” one wizened older woman asked her at the market one afternoon.</p><p>“No,” Rey replied. “No, he did not.”</p><p>There was so much Luke never told her. So much Leia never told her.  So much she needed to struggle to find on her own. The truth of her parentage. How to move on with her life. How to just be, when she didn’t need to struggle for survival. </p><p>She would keep learning, keep trying to find answers. For Ben, she had to. Even when she wanted so desperately to give up, to bury herself in the sand the way she buried his family’s lightsabers, she knew she had to find the strength to keep going for him. </p><p>Sometimes, she even dreamed she could find a way to bring him back. But his body was gone--there was nothing left for her to heal, to grasp, to cling to and into which she could coax back life. </p><p>The Force bond was as silent as the voices, for the first time in over a year. She missed him. Missed his formidable presence, a protective shadow at her back. Even when they hated each other, they were connected in a way no one else could understand. </p><p>She felt that loneliness down to her bones now. The nights were quiet, and cold, much like Jakku, but the feeling was different now that she had known love, known what it was like to hold someone in her arms and kiss them. </p><p>She wanted him. She wanted to give him everything, all of herself, and to receive everything, all of himself from him in turn. </p><p>She wondered how Shmi had borne the pain, the loneliness, before she met Cliegg Lars. </p><p>Perhaps she could learn that, too, by finding something of Shmi’s upon which to meditate. </p><p>She went to bed that night clutching her lightsaber and wishing desperately it was Ben’s back. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> With your might, find the light, Rey.  </em>
</p><p>Just as Rey struggled to step out of bed each morning, so too did she struggle with the rage boiling inside her. </p><p>Her grandfather, evil incarnate, wanted her to give in to that rage. </p><p>She would not, could not. </p><p>But that did not mean it wasn’t still there. </p><p>The more she learned about Shmi Skywalker, the angrier she became. A slave, forced to bear her fatherless son alone. She was taken from her family--her first and only true family--and brutalized and murdered for her body’s nutrients. </p><p>Thinking of Shmi made her think of the few women who lived to middle age she had known. On Jakku, no one had a long life expectancy. </p><p>She remembered the elder scavenger woman on Jakku at Niima Outpost, a rarity, and another victim of the desert’s harsh whims. She had never known her name; all Rey knew was how hard she worked, and how much she had never wanted to become that woman, aged and having never left Jakku. She didn’t know how the woman had survived for so long. </p><p>And Leia, who too had suffered. Everyone she loved was gone by the end of her life, and she did not live to see her son’s redemption, to know the truth of his heart. </p><p>Rey wept thinking she could never ask Leia’s blessing for her relationship with her son. </p><p>And then she ignited her ‘saber and lashed out through her forms, wishing to destroy everything that had hurt these women, wanting to strike her grandfather down, wanting to rid the galaxy of slavers and scum like Unkar Plutt, wanting to feel it crash and burn and---</p><p>She deactivated her ‘saber and sank to her knees in the sand. </p><p>Breathe in, breathe out. </p><p>She closed her eyes, and sank into meditation, willing her heart rate to slow, to let her boiling anger dissipate, pushing the feelings down and letting them evaporate. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> You are not alone, Rey.  </em>
</p><p>“Be with me,” she intoned with every breath. Breathe in, breathe out. “Be with me.”</p><p>Ben did not answer. </p><p>Someone else did, however. </p><p>“You are not alone, Rey,” the voice said, just as it had on Exegol. This voice was rich and deep, signifying a powerful Force user in Rey’s mind. </p><p>“Be with me,” she asked the voice again. </p><p>“The oppression of the Sith will never return, Rey,” the voice answered. “You fought as a true Jedi. Your grandparents are proud.”</p><p>“I killed my grandfather,” she replied, hastily scrambling to stand up with her eyes closed, so as to not break the vision, but as if to show the mysterious Jedi the truth of her words with her body, open and honest.</p><p>“No, Rey,” the voice continued. “Palpatine was not your grandfather. He lied to you, as he lied to us all. Your grandfather has always been with you, watching over you. When Ben told you your parents were no one who sold you off for drinking money, what he told you was true--from a certain point of view. The Force shows us what it wishes us to see. Glimpses, fragments, pieces of the truth that form a cohesive whole over time. The Jedi Order’s arrogance was its undoing. We have tried to learn and atone while in the netherworld of the Force. Your journey is not over, Rey. You will see your grandfather soon. You must find the balance, Rey. You are not alone.”</p><p>The voice faded away. Rey’s eyes opened to see the suns setting once more, though it had been high noon when she started her forms. </p><p>She wept until she fell asleep, her heart broken once more by Palpatine’s lies.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> Alone, never have you been.   </em>
</p><p>Rey had much to think about when she awoke the next morning with swollen eyes. </p><p>Snoke had lied. He did not possess the power to create a bond such as hers and Ben’s. Rey knew it to the depth of her bones even before the Emperor expressed surprise that she and Ben were bonded, a dyad in the Force, on Exegol. And Snoke was Palpatine’s puppet, or Palpatine himself; Rey was unsure which, and wasn’t sure that it mattered, a touch of bitterness overcoming her heart. </p><p>She had been lied to, again, and believed those lies, letting them take root and poison her soul. </p><p>Only Ben had ever been truly honest with her. She knew his soul as well as she knew her own. He hated lying as much as she did. </p><p>They both deserved the truth of their family legacies.</p><p>But if Palpatine and Snoke had lied, and Ben only saw a fragment of the truth, who were her parents, truly?</p><p>And who was the grandfather she would soon meet?</p><p>The voice left her with far more questions than answers. It seemed to be a habit with Jedi. Rey sighed, and began her daily routine. </p><p>She checked the vaporators for the water harvest. She sprinted from one to the other, making sure to get her heart rate up in a healthy manner. She cooked a small meal. She stretched and went through her forms, peaceably this time. She made a list of all the supplies she would need when she went into Anchorhead that weekend. </p><p>She sat down inside her small home, where it was dark, cool, and peaceful, and sank into meditation, her legs crossed, her eyes closed, her breathing steady, her heart and palms open. </p><p><em> Be with me</em>, she thought. </p><p>
  <em> You left me with more questions than answers. I appreciate your help. You saved my life on Exegol.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But so did Ben. I miss him. I need him. </em>
</p><p>“Yes, need him, you do,” another voice replied. This voice sounded old, wizened.</p><p>“Two halves of one whole, you are,” the voice continued. </p><p>“But how can I get him back? He disappeared,” Rey asked. </p><p>“Help you, we will. Show you, we will. Much energy it takes to appear from what grows beyond,” the Jedi said. </p><p>“Thank you,” Rey replied. “Who are you? Who is my grandfather?”</p><p>“Patience, Rey,” the voice answered. Rey imagined them stamping their foot, or tapping a walking stick on the ground. “Appear to you, he will. Alone, never have you been.”</p><p>“That’s what you told me on Exegol,” she said. “I feel so alone, though.” Her voice broke. </p><p>“Strong with the Force, you are. Alone, you will not be. Return to you, your soulmate will.”</p><p>The voice disappeared, and Rey opened her eyes once more, feeling as though she had been submerged in water and pulled back out. Her skin was clammy and cold, and once more, the sun was setting though she felt she had been meditating for mere moments as opposed to hours. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> Every Jedi that ever lived lives in you now.  </em>
</p><p>The next morning dawned, and Rey felt hopeful for the first time since Exegol. She longed to speak with the voices again. </p><p><em> Patience</em>, she reminded herself, just as the elder voice had the day before. </p><p>She went about her daily routine as usual, taking care in each of her tasks. She would honor Ben and the voices by doing things the right way, by being patient and not giving in to her anger. She breathed, and concentrated, and would build a life for herself on Tatooine until she could get Ben back from wherever he had gone. </p><p>She could, and would, get him back. He deserved to live just as much as she did. </p><p><em> Be with me</em>, she intoned, sitting cross-legged in the quiet of the farm’s dark back room as usual. Her palms were open on her knees. </p><p>She breathed, relaxed, allowed her heart and mind to be open, though her feelings centered on Ben.  </p><p><em> Rey</em>, a voice called to her. It was the voice from Maz’s castle, the voice that told her about her first and final steps. </p><p>It was a voice that sounded safe, a voice that she had somehow known all her life.</p><p>She didn’t know what to say first. <em> Are you really my grandfather? Why would Palpatine lie? How can I bring Ben back from the dead? How can I pass on what I have learned? Why was I chosen? </em></p><p><em> Patience, Rey</em>, the voice told her once more. </p><p>“You will have the answers to all of these questions, and more, in time. Yes, you are my granddaughter, and not Palpatine’s. Since Exegol, you have the strength of every Jedi. You must seek the World Between Worlds and bring Ben back to this one. Be wary, however--you must return to this time and place, and resist changing fate. Time passes strangely there. Always in motion is the future.”</p><p>“Thank you, Grandfather,” she answered, her voice sounding melodic and resonant, as if she were not in a small chamber on a farm on Tatooine. </p><p>A moment passed. Rey took the opportunity. “Who are you? What happened to our family?” she asked. </p><p>“My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi,” he answered. “I was known to Luke as Ben.”</p><p>“Ben is named after you,” she said, her lips curling into a smile. “I thought during your time, the Jedi were supposed to be celibate, and Ben’s grandfather broke all the rules.”</p><p>Obi-Wan laughed.</p><p>“Anakin did break many rules. We were to form no attachments, to avoid the fear of loss. This may have been interpreted by some to impose a vow of celibacy, however, no such dictate was part of the Jedi Code. I loved someone very much, though not everyone in Mandalorian space loved her as I did, or agreed with her politics. I would have left the Order for her, if she had asked it of me. But she would never have asked, as she had her own duties to attend to. She had a great vision for Mandalore’s future. One of her sisters raised our son as her own. You still have family on Mandalore. I am truly sorry that we could not tell you sooner. But I have always been with you, just as the Force has always been with you.”</p><p>“I have family on Mandalore?” she asked, excitement rising in her voice. </p><p>“You do, though the population was devastated by the Imperial remnants after the war. Much of the Mandalorian way of life is gone, practiced only by those in secret covens across the galaxy, and they do not take kindly to outsiders or Force users.” Obi-Wan replied, sadness evident in his voice. </p><p>“I would like to learn and help,” Rey said, firmly, with hope rising in her heart once again. “But I need to bring Ben back first.” </p><p>“Indeed,” Obi-Wan said. “Leia’s sacrifice must not be in vain. She saved her son, in more ways than one. When she became one with the Force, she gave her life force so that he might live. But the Force works in mysterious ways. You must find him in the World Between Worlds. It is a vergence in the Force, a place where everything exists, and nothing. What is within, is without. There are many paths there, and heed my words--there are doors to different times and places, and different realities abound. You have been tempted by the dark side, but this is a temptation of a different kind.”</p><p>“I will not fail, Grandfather. How do I enter this World Between Worlds?” </p><p>“Only the pure of heart may enter. Two of the entrances have been lost or destroyed, on Mortis and Lothal; others, remain undiscovered. It seems that Ben disappeared into a waypoint or a vergence to the World Between Worlds on Exegol.”</p><p>“I don’t want to go back there,” Rey said, shuddering as if icy fingers had trailed down her spine. The shadows on Exegol had seemed alive. Perhaps they had been alive, of a sort, buoyed by Palpatine’s dark side powers. </p><p>Rey sighed. She should have seen through him as she had seen through Snoke. Was she so desperate for a family, for a place to belong, that she was eager to believe manipulations and shadows from a malevolent Emperor long thought to be deceased?</p><p>“Now is not the time for self-doubt, Rey,” her true grandfather said. “We all were deceived by Palpatine. He was the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic for nearly fifteen years before he was unmasked as a Sith Lord. Luke was right when he said the Jedi Order made many mistakes. But you and Ben can bring balance to the Force once more. Travel once more to Ahch-To, where you found answers before. The first Jedi Temple will bring you answers again.” Her grandfather Obi-Wan’s voice faded. </p><p>“Thank you, Grandfather,” she answered, feeling his presence fade away as the binary suns set once more.  She would not rest early that night; she would pack her things and make ready for a journey the next day before she forced her mind to become quiet. </p><p>She would see Ben again. She would bring him home, wherever home would be for him. Grandfather Obi-Wan was right; Leia’s sacrifice would not be in vain. She and Rey brought Ben back to the light, back to life, and now, he would live that life to the fullest. </p><p>BB-8 noticed Rey’s improved spirits immediately. </p><p>“We’re going on a journey,” she told him. “We’re going to the first Jedi Temple, and we’re going to bring Ben back. Will you help me?”</p><p>The little round droid beeped affirmatively, chirping about matching his piece of the map to Ahch-To to R2-D2’s the year previous. </p><p>It felt so long ago, Rey thought. She had been a different person then, one who hardly knew what the journey ahead of her might hold. </p><p>For now, she would concentrate on one day, one task at a time. </p><p>First, she would travel to Ahch-To. Next, she would find the entrance to the World Between Worlds. Then, she would bring Ben back. After that, he could help her find her family on Mandalore. </p><p>She nodded as she recited the steps in her head. She had always been a quick learner. There had been many mistakes--fried droids, scars and blood, nights spent with no food--along the way, but Rey was proud of how far she’d come since Jakku, when she scavenged and learned as much as she could. </p><p>She would keep learning, with Ben by her side. One day, one task at a time. </p><p>She went to sleep that night with a smile for what felt like the first time ever. She knew that with Ben by her side, she would go to sleep with a smile on her face in the future. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> The Force surrounds you, Rey.   </em>
</p><p>The binary suns rose, and Ahch-To beckoned. It was easy to remember the way in the <em> Falcon</em>, which she vastly preferred flying to Kylo’s stolen TIE fighter. So much had happened since then. She had been ready to give up the fight; now, she sought to reclaim the reason why she survived that fight at all. </p><p>The oceans were as beautiful as ever, the island lush and green. </p><p>Rey landed the Falcon where she had on her first visit to Ahch-To. She wound her way up the stone steps, and into the original Jedi Temple. It was warm and welcoming to her. </p><p>She sat down in front of the Prime Jedi mosaic and began to meditate. She felt no fear or anger; she let go of her pain, of all the emotions she had tried to tamp down on Tatooine. </p><p>She would not deny who she was. She was a scavenger from Jakku who defeated the Emperor; no more, no less. </p><p>She remembered Luke’s lessons from the year prior. How far she had come, and how far she still had to go. </p><p><em> Pass on what you have learned</em>, she heard the wizened elder Jedi say in her mind. <em> We are what they grow beyond. That is the burden of all masters. </em></p><p><em> The Force surrounds you, Rey</em>, another voice said, just as it had on Exegol. The voice was young, passionate, intense. </p><p>It felt as if the room were spinning around her as she sank deeper into her meditation, focusing on letting her feelings go, reaching out with the Force. </p><p>Rey opened her eyes. The Prime Jedi mosaic was illuminated, glowing from within and without. All around her, previously invisible markings and carvings etched on the stone walls appeared. Circles and lines stretched up and around her, glowing gold in the darkness. </p><p>Rey breathed, and reached out her hand. The stone shimmered around her; arcane marks appeared to light up around a doorway that had not been visible previously. </p><p>The doorway beckoned.</p><p>Rey stepped through, and entered the World Between Worlds.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> Let it guide you--as it guided us.   </em>
</p><p>The World Between Worlds glimmered with incalculable starlight. All around her, doors and pathways shimmered and seemed to pulse with light, eager to be opened and share a glimpse of what might be, what had been, or what was yet to come with her.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, and trusted her path forward. She took one step, then another. The doorway through which she entered seemed to pulsate and shift behind her as she moved forward through luminous space.</p><p>Paths curled upward and over; paths no human being could hope to trod. Those paths, Rey knew, were meant for another.</p><p>As she stepped forward, she heard echoes of voices. Some, she had never heard before, and she knew they did not belong to her, just as the curving paths were meant for someone else.</p><p>Different shapes appeared in what seemed to be the sky, but they weren’t constellations. Rey saw a Loth-wolf, and a serpent. Again, she knew they were not meant for her. She had no connections to a snake slithering through a swamp planet, or the plains of Lothal. </p><p>She trusted that she would find her way to Ben. Rey told Obi-Wan, her grandfather, that she would not fail. She would find Ben somewhere in this maze. Every step she took reverberated in the silence and rippled as if she were walking on water. She could not feel the ground beneath her feet, but trusted that it was there. </p><p>As she continued to walk along the star-soaked paths, she heard echoes of the voices she heard on Exegol again.</p><p>
  <em> Feel the Force flow through you, Rey.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Let it lift you.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rise, Rey.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> We stand behind you, Rey.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Rise in the Force.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> In the heart of a Jedi lies their strength.   </em>
</p><p>“In the heart of a Jedi lies their strength,” she repeated to herself. She stopped and placed a hand to her heart, feeling its beat. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply once more, reaching deep within herself to her heart beat. </p><p>She remembered Ben, remembered his words. She remembered the Emperor’s shock on Exegol at the truth of their relationship, beyond even just the bond.</p><p>A dyad in the Force. Two that are one. </p><p>“Ben,” she said, willing herself to feel his presence, the tether connecting them body, mind, and soul. She had felt empty since his disappearance since their bond had gone silent. But that did not mean he was not still part of her. He was. She knew it with the certainty only the Force could provide. </p><p>They had been brought together for a reason--to defeat the Emperor, to bring balance to the Force. </p><p>She would bring him back; she needed him just as the Force needed him, needed her, needed them both. </p><p>“Ben,” she said, focusing on how alive she felt when he brought her back on Exegol. How it felt to kiss him, to hold him in her arms. </p><p>She wanted him. She wanted more. She wanted all of him. His failures, his weaknesses, his strengths, his passion, his love. </p><p>“Ben,” she said, reaching out once more, and taking a step forward, though her eyes were still closed, her left hand pressed to her chest, her right outstretched. </p><p>She opened her eyes, and broke into a jog. She could now hear a bird soaring and swooping somewhere above her--a convor, she noted, but she kept moving forward, knowing once more that the convor was not meant for her, just as the serpent and Loth-wolf were not. </p><p>At last, she reached a fork in the pathway. Reaching out for Ben once more, she stepped to the right to follow the second path. A second path, for a second chance at life, she thought, felt fitting. </p><p>She followed the second path for what could have been hours or even mere minutes. Rey could not say how long she had spent in the World Between Worlds. It did not matter to her. She would do whatever it took to complete her mission, to bring Ben home. </p><p>She began to see the outline of a door, another portal, in the distance. She broke into a run, never doubting her steps. Upon reaching the rounded door, she noted beautiful calligraphy in what looked to be an ancient script surrounding its edges. She longed to read it, to trace the letters with her hands. Perhaps someday she would, but for now, she had to find Ben. She took a deep breath, and stepped through the doorway. </p><p>She saw Ben, laying dead on the stone as he had on Exegol before he disappeared. </p><p>Behind him, a monstrous being stood, menacing and towering over his lifeless body. It was a figure she had only ever seen on a Dejarik table; a Molator, a creature of myth and legend. </p><p>The Molator looked from Ben to her as if puzzled by her presence. </p><p>Rey did not hesitate.</p><p>“Who are you?” she asked, standing proud and tall, her back straight, her right hand near her lightsaber if need be. She was unafraid.</p><p>“I am Grimtaash,” the Molator answered. “I am the guardian of the Alderaanian royal family, their defense against traitors. Who are you?”</p><p>Rey had never known that detail. She smiled softly to herself. She would have to ask Ben about the Alderaanian myths and legends later. </p><p>“I am Rey,” she answered. “Rey, of Jakku, granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi and of the Mandalorians. I mean you no harm; I am no traitor to Alderaan. I come to save his life.”</p><p>“Well met, Rey of Jakku,” Grimtaash answered, nodding at her. “Will you guard the last prince of Alderaan with your life?”</p><p>“I will,” she replied, feeling the Force flow through her. </p><p>“Very well,” Grimtaash said. “I could not guard him in life, for Alderaan has been destroyed. But in death, I guarded him well. I shall return to guard the rest of House Organa.”</p><p>He took one last look at Ben, bowing low, and turned away from Rey, beginning to fade. </p><p>“Grimtaash! Wait just a moment,” Rey said, hoping her request would not be too late. </p><p>Though faded, the Molator turned back to Rey.</p><p>“Yes, Rey of Jakku, granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze?”</p><p><em> Satine Kryze</em>. Now Rey had a name for her Mandalorian grandmother. Her heart leapt at the thought. But she had to wait. Patience, as all the Jedi were so fond of saying. </p><p>“When you return to House Organa, please tell Leia--excuse me, Princess Leia--” she added hurriedly, hoping not to offend the ancient creature. “Please tell her her son loved her. And his father. And will you ask her for her blessing for us?”</p><p>Grimtaash bowed his head. “This, I shall do for you, as well, Rey of Jakku. See to it that you guard him well, that you both earn your rights and responsibilities as the heirs of Alderaan.”</p><p>“Thank you, Grimtaash,” she said, placing her hand to her heart and inclining her head to him, as well. </p><p>The legendary guardian disappeared, and Rey knelt before Ben.  </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> Rise.   </em>
</p><p>Rey put her hand on Ben’s chest, where his heartbeat should have been, resisting the urge to stroke his face and hair. There would be time enough for that later.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, willing the Force to flow through her, to create a heartbeat where there was none. </p><p>“Be with me,” she said, breathing deeply, imagining his lungs filling with air and releasing it as hers did.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, envisioning their Force bond, how their minds were completely open to the other unless they chose to close the door, to construct mental walls and barriers.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, imagining a soft bed on a blue and green planet, the windows open and sunlight streaming in, Ben and herself tangled in the sheets, at peace and in love. </p><p>“Be with me,” she said, remembering how they fought Snoke and Palpatine side by side, more powerful united, together, than they were apart.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, thinking of all the tears she shed on Jakku and Tatooine, aching in her loneliness and how she would never have to be alone again now. </p><p>Now, with her soulmate by her side, the other half of their bond, a dyad in the Force.</p><p>“Be with me,” she said, and Ben Organa-Solo opened his eyes. </p><p>“Rey?” he asked, and it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. Her eyes filled with tears once more, for joy, for the sheer emotion, for the amount of energy she had just expended. She was exhausted, and she still had to lead them home. </p><p>But for now, all she could say in reply was “Ben,” as she reached for him and kissed him the way she had on Exegol. </p><p>His hands were in her hair, then tracing down her back, feeling her as if to ensure she was real after all.  </p><p>They were both weeping, laughing, clinging to each other and to life. </p><p>She helped him up off the stony slab, and holding his hand in her own, stepped back through the open portal into the World Between Worlds. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> The Force will be with you. Always.   </em>
</p><p>Naboo’s Lake Country was everything Rey Kenobi dreamed it would be, the perfect setting for a wedding. The water shimmered, rippling in the summer sunshine. The breeze was refreshing, caressing the skin softly and gently like a silk gown. </p><p>Their family stood, watching. Rey could see many of them for the first time, after telling Ben all about the voices she had heard. They still had so much to learn, so much research to do, so many planets to visit. But now, they had the rest of their lives to do so, their family with them in spirit by their sides.</p><p>Anakin and Obi-Wan stood next to each other, Anakin tall and strong, Obi-Wan wise and knowing. With them, two women more beautiful than Rey could possibly have imagined. Padme Amidala, Ben’s grandmother, the former queen and Senator of Naboo, was petite like Leia, with flowers entwined in her hair. Her smile was radiant, as was Rey’s grandmother’s. Satine Kryze, duchess of Mandalore, was tall and proud, blonde and fair. She too was dressed as befitting her station. </p><p>Next to Padme Amidala stood another handsome couple, regal in bearing and kindly smiling, Bail and Breha Organa. Behind them stood Grimtaash, towering over all the humans. </p><p>Leia, Han, and Luke were nearby, Leia beaming with pride and Luke with his usual sardonic smirk. Han winked at them, his face brimming with pride. </p><p>Rey wore a <a href="https://66.media.tumblr.com/7f7e7ce92ad214aba14278e3a198db99/tumblr_py5vejhIri1sms0ibo1_540.png">dress</a> that looked as if it were covered in stars, just like the World Between Worlds. Ben stood by her side, as he would for the rest of their lives.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A huge thank you to my beta boo Desiree as always. Please leave a comment with your thoughts, and come find me on Tumblr and Twitter.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>